More than 206 million Chinese rely on the Internet for news
The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) has reported that more than 206 million Chinese are using the web as their main source of news. CASS, a top academic institution, released the figure in the Blue Book of China’s Economy (2009).
Zhu Huaxin, author of the report, said that disasters such as snow storms during the Lunar New Year holiday, the massive earthquake that struck the southwestern Sichuan province in May as well as the Olympics stimulated the growth of the online news population.
He said, ‘The year 2008 saw rapid development and wide application of the Internet in China.’
At the end of June, Chinese Internet users hit 253 million, the most in the world. The latest official figures put users at 290 million. That’s 80 million more Internet users than in 2007 according to the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC). About 80% of these users look for information and news through the Internet. Around 60% of them use search engines.
CNNIC found that people younger than 30 are the majority of online news readers, accounting for about 69% of total Internet users.
The raw facts of that story need some interpreting.
Accessing the Internet in China is not the same as accessing the Internet in other countries. There are several major differences.
1. The majority of access to the Internet take place in Internet cafes. Of which there are probably around half a million although that figure is a movable feast. It is not just that users do not have a computer and Internet access at home. It is that at home there is possibly no room for a computer which accesses the Internet. Chinese apartments are smaller than those in other countries and more people tend to crowd into them. By comparison, but only by comparison, an Internet cafe is a haven of peace and ease of use. In China you must not equate Internet usage with computer ownership or home Internet connections. Usage is very, very much influenced by the rise and rise of the Internet cafe.
2. Do not think that the majority of Chinese users who go online are worried about censorship or political motivation or even blogging. The main reason to go on line is to get involved in an online multi-user game which will be similar to War of the Worlds but will be a Chinese game. Games first, news second.
3. Do not think that because there are so many millions of users the major Western sites automatically do very well. Google is not the leading search engine. It is Baidu. Most western sites will not hack it in China when translated because it is not just a question of words. It is one of culture, style and approach. Throwing money at it is not the solution. Chinese Internet users know what they want and mostly it does not come fom the West.
4. Yes, the Internet in China is censored. For example, Wikipedia goes in and out of favor and it is an outrage. 99% of Chinese users do not give a toss. Yes, they are seriously interested in the news. But it is news of how Yao Ming is doing with the Houston Rockets. Not about the problems with the Dalai Lama or Falung Gong.
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